This book was so interesting and I loved it and I loved the characters and the story. The author really knows how to make a character driven novel.

This was a good book, but the main character is not very likable. There are some parts of this book that are really important, like the portrayal of chronic illness. But the book, at times, was hard to get through. The overall story, though, was pretty good and I did enjoy my time with the book.

I was interested to read this novel- the cover and title drew me in and I was looking forward to it but it turned to be just okay. I found Ellie (the main character) to be annoying and rude. I understand she’s a moody teenager but was hard to read the distain she had for some of the medical professionals as well as her own mom in this book. Her mom’s blog side plot was also a bit weird for me. The story was good but I wish there was more depth to it. 3/5

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the eARC.

Ok, this is. Hard one. Ellie has one of the sourest attitudes of a character I’ve read. And it made it very hard to manage in reading this book. BUT it also felt authentic and likely relatable to someone having endured what she was coping with. So because of that I gave her a pass and hope that others dealing with a similar situation can find something/see something to help them on their journey. There are people around us that do love us and it’s important to appreciate them and random acts of kindness.

"Ellie Haycock Is Totally Normal" is a compelling exploration of resilience and camaraderie amidst the challenges posed by VATER syndrome. Schreiber's story is a remarkable exploration of disability narratives with a refreshing touch of authenticity and heart. The author's firsthand knowledge of the syndrome adds a layer of realism to the storytelling, making it an enlightening and heartfelt read.

In a bookish landscape often lacking diverse and authentic disability narratives, this debut stands out as an impactful contribution. The characters, the narrative heartache and laughs, and the underlying themes make it a must-read for those seeking a nuanced and genuine read. Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4/5 Penguins
Quick Reasons: an intimate, emotional look into living with disabilities and the toll they take on a person's body and heart; hard-hitting, close to home as a person living with multiple disabilities; heart-wrenching; snarky, witty, entertaining; poignantly written

HUGE thanks to Gretchen Schreiber, Wednesday Books Publishing, and Netgalley for the ARC of this title! My review of this book is voluntarily written and in no way altered or impacted by this gesture.

This story, while different from the hole I've fallen into lately with my reads, still hit home HARD. Because this is contemporary...and based on real-life experiences...and about disabilities. For those of you who haven't been following my page for a while, I live with multiple chronic illnesses/disabilities myself...and this book was HARD, because it made me face some things in myself that I haven't taken the time lately to truly think about. Namely...how I interact with the world, and with the people around me, while learning/growing/struggling with all the challenges I face from day to day. Gretchen Schreiber wrote what she knows, LITERALLY...and did so with a poignant grace and startling amount of humanity.

This is still, of course, your typical contemporary YA fiction/YA romance--there are still miscommunications, teenage angst scenes, SO MUCH drama, a 3rd act "break up", a fight to make up and make right...and, of course, a "happily for now" ending. But these characters are substantial. Their motivations, their fears, their struggles all play into and wrap themselves around you as you read, keeping you enthralled until the very end. I, admittedly, stayed up WAY too late last night finishing this because I just could not put it down with only 100 pages left....even though my eyes kept trying to force themselves closed.

I definitely recommend this read to contemporary fiction aficionados, those who have or love someone with disabilities, and those looking for something close to reality....but not QUITE the real world. These characters are believable, their arcs are astounding, and this read is bound to leave you thinking (and feeling I suppose...but we don't talk about that). Take a walk on the human side, Penguins--maybe you'll find something there worth fighting for.

Ellie Haycock does not mix her home life with her hospital life. She has a boyfriend, a best friend and is a part of the debate team. None of them know what’s really going on with Ellie’s health. When her latest hospital visit results in a long-term stay at a care home that coincides with her hospital bestie. Ellie must deal with her two worlds colliding and a possible surgery all well dealing with a mother who can’t stop blogging about Ellie’s medical status online. As Ellie and her hospital bestie navigate their stays, the duo pick up some strays along the way.

As with any good teen novel there’s a bit of a wholesome romance, best friend and parent dramas. What sets Ellie Haycock is Totally Normally apart from other teen contemporary novels is it’s very real and direct look at chronic illness. From the assumptions, the heartache, the prejudices and the hopeful moments, Schneiber manages to cover them all. The story itself is untraditionally heartwarming. Which might sound odd but it’s not all warm and fuzzy. Ellie has to dig deep before she can work out her feelings. Bravery isn’t just required when she’s in the hospital but often in quiet moments with friends and family.

At first Ellie’s personality isn’t exactly full of charm. She’s a jaded pragmatist that wants to go back home to her regular life. As someone who has lived a luckily healthy life, as I started to experience Ellie’s hospital visits and the way others view her, it was easy to comprehend just what spawned Ellie’s prickly personality. In the end, I was charmed by Ellie's courage and story.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for providing an ARC through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Ellie has always kept her hospital life and her "life-life" completely separate, while her mom shares absolutely everything with the world via her blog.

I enjoyed reading about Ellie and getting a glimpse of a life most of us know nothing about. I'm sure that's why Ellie chose to keep all that from her school friends; she assumed they wouldn't understand and never gave them a chance to do so. Her mom over-shared while Ellie didn't share at all. She put up walls, never letting anyone really see her. No, Ellie wasn't very likable, at least at first, but she had some great friends who stuck with her and pushed her to get real, and the book left us with the hope that Ellie was growing up and figuring out how to embrace her own normal.

Ellie Haycock is Totally Normal is not your normal YA romance. A lot of the books takes place is a hospital setting and there are some medical mombo jumbo but it's still easy to follow.
Ellie is worried about mixing her two lives together. She has a "normal" at home life and a hospital life. She doesn't want them to be combined. Ellie thinks her at home friends wouldn't understand what it's like to have a lifelong disease. She doesn't want to be seen as some freak. She also thinks introducing her friends together will make this worse. Right now Ellie is dealing with some lung problems that are keeping her away from home. She wants to get back to her boyfriend and her other friends. While she is doing this stint she meet three new friends. They all want to help her get back to her life but they also want to understand her division of lives. In the end they will be her reasoning to start opening up.
It's a cute little read. I liked that I could understand it and it didn't have to much medical terms. It did at times seem slow moving. Ellie could be quiet a Debby downer and it made it hard for me to relate to her. I think that this can give a new perspective to people that maybe don't have anyone in their lives like Ellie and her friends.

This was hard for me to connect to being a person how’s never felt with a serious illness. I think as a reader the MC comes across super bitter and rude and just wasn’t enjoyable to read. I also thought the mom and her blog was such a cringy thing. Again this one just wasn’t for me.

i enjoyed the friend group in this book. the main character seemed too hateful and annoying and so it was hard to root for her at times. i also didn't really see the romance/ chemistry between the characters.

Adorable Coming of Age book! I loved the uniqueness of Ellie's character as things change from her usual life. Separating School from the hospital, and now one boy changes that for her. This is a great book for young teens to read.

I didn’t realize this was a YA book. I liked the story the group of friends was very supportive and each one of them struggled with their own illness.

An emotional read, but one that was a bit hard to follow due to run on sentences and spots where I wasn't sure which characters were still talking. I hope that gets fixed before the official release. I would have enjoyed it more had the characters allowed for more in depth talking, as opposed to interrupting each other constantly. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Now this was so good and eye opening and heartwarming. I can’t wait to read more by this author and hopefully hear from Ellie Haycock again.

This book was cute. I enjoy YA books from time to time. I think this book is great and can teach people things. The book and characters were very relatable.
Thank you NetGalley, Gretchen and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

Ellie Haycock is such a fresh, honest, joyful-but-real voice in YA. The perspective on chronic illness is refreshing and candid, and I loved seeing her path to find friendship and love.

I think this is a book that really gets to a different perspective of disability in teens. It is a good reminder that we are all navigating our own paths in our own way. Our personalities intersect with our live circumstances in different ways to produce our reality. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it. I was given an advanced reader copy by netgalley.

16 year old Ellie Haycock has done her best to keep her life compartmentalized, never crossing home life with hospital life. High school Ellie is part of the speech/debate team. She has her best friend and boyfriend and that part is the “normal” and comfortable side. While Hospital Ellie deals with a mysterious illness called VATERLs. In and out of the hospital since she was born, innumerable amounts of surgery and tests, while her mom won’t stop documenting this all for her blog “𝖵𝖠𝖳𝖤𝖱𝗌 𝖫𝗂𝗄𝖾 𝖶𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗋”. As another hospital visits brings her back to the hospital “Home”, she builds a friendship with other patients and her view on things start to shift. Also doesn’t hurt that there’s someone in her corner that is cute and she can’t stop thinking about.

𝖤𝗅𝗅𝗂𝖾 𝖨𝗌 𝖳𝗈𝗍𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝖭𝗈𝗋𝗆𝖺𝗅 is based off Gretchen Schreiber’s own medical experience with the same condition. Through Ellie’s character Schreiber has given a voice to all the 16 year olds who are dealing with their own illnesses, whether visible or not. This book will stay with me forever because this isn’t just a YA novel, it’s a reminder that not everyone is against you, not everyone will ignore you and tell you it’s “all in your head” and not every medical professional will dismiss you. It’s a reminder that it’s ok to want to be ordinary even though you are actually extraordinary. It’s a reminder that if you feel that something isn’t right, advocate for yourself.
This book is such an empowerment to the disability and chronic illness community. So Gretchen, from one chronic illness warrior to another, thank you ♥️

𝖱𝖾𝖺𝖽 𝗂𝖿 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾：
✩𝖥𝗈𝗎𝗇𝖽 𝖿𝖺𝗆𝗂𝗅𝗒
✩𝖤𝗇𝖾𝗆𝗂𝖾𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗌
✩𝖣𝗂𝗌𝖺𝖻𝗂𝗅𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖼𝗁𝗋𝗈𝗇𝗂𝖼 𝗂𝗅𝗅𝗇𝖾𝗌𝗌 𝗋𝖾𝗉
✩𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝖡𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗄𝖿𝖺𝗌𝗍 𝖢𝗅𝗎𝖻 𝗆𝖾𝖾𝗍𝗌 𝖥𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝖥𝖾𝖾𝗍 𝖠𝗉𝖺𝗋𝗍


✵𝖬𝖺𝗇𝗒 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗄𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝖭𝖾𝗍𝗀𝖺𝗅𝗅𝖾𝗒, 𝖲𝗍. 𝖬𝖺𝗋𝗍𝗂𝗇’𝗌 𝖯𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗌 & 𝖦𝗋𝖾𝗍𝖼𝗁𝖾𝗇 𝖲𝖼𝗁𝗋𝖾𝗂𝖻𝖾𝗋 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗀𝗂𝖿𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖠𝖽𝗏𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾𝖽 𝖱𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋’𝗌 𝖢𝗈𝗉𝗒 𝗂𝗇 𝖾𝗑𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗀𝖾 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗆𝗒 𝗁𝗈𝗇𝖾𝗌𝗍 𝗋𝖾𝗏𝗂𝖾𝗐．✵

This was cute and fun. I really enjoy YA books still and this was no exception. I picked it because of the blurb from Reese Witherspoon, and it was definitely a fun vibe with substance like her previous YA book club.